The Other Side of Sadness
by JonoGwood
Summary: Most of the other Emotions think Sadness is too, well, sad to be around. Joy and Fear are the exceptions, and they see her for who she truly is. Especially Fear. (FearxSadness)
1. Chapter 1

Sadness wasn't what anyone would call upbeat – after all, she was named Sadness. Most thought that she was too depressing and melancholy to be around. The two exceptions were Joy and Fear. Joy saw her as someone that was actually decent if you got to know her better. Fear, however, saw something else. It seemed that whatever his latest panic attack was about, Sadness would, in her own way, comfort him. So she wasn't that bad. It was just that the Emotions didn't see the other side to her very often.

Sadness was actually very caring – she just didn't know what to do with that nature. Her attempts of comfort came across as depressing to the other Emotions. It wasn't intentional. It was just her character. Fear saw her for who she truly was – someone who did care and who was truly kind, but who didn't know how to go about showing it. It didn't bother Fear at all. In a way, it was actually endearing to him.

One night, while Fear was on dream duty, Riley had a nightmare. It wasn't a normal nightmare. It was if somebody had gone right up to eleven on the scariness meter. Fear jumped and cowered at the sight of five clowns advancing at Riley. Sadness, who was still awake, came to Fear and held his hand. 'It'll be alright, I hope,' she mumbled. Fear was too traumatized to say anything, but in the deepest recesses of his heart, he was glad.


	2. Ba-Dump Ba-Dump

There it was again. That thunderous, thumping rythmic heartbeat that only seemed to happen whenever Sadness was around.

 _Ba-dump ba-dump._

Sadness was coming closer now. Fear could see that she had some new earrings on. _Those are new_ , he thought. _Wait... why am I even thinking about them?_

 _Ba-dump ba-dump._

Sadness seemed even more radiant than in past days. Fear couldn't put his finger on it.

 _Ba-dump ba-dump._

"Fear, are you okay?" inquired Sadness, noticing that he was staring at her.

"Oh, y-yeah," Fear stammered. "J-just thinking."

"Are you thinking about the time Riley cried in class? That was pretty sad."

"Er, n-no. Something a bit n-nicer."

 _Ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump._

This was crazy. Even the mere thought of Sadness was enough to send his heart racing.

Fear resolved to talk to Joy.


	3. A Talk With Joy

**Author's Note: Thank you for the review, b-utter fly-shy! Your feedback is much appreciated.**

One night, after Riley had gone to sleep, Fear walked over to Joy, who was at the command console watching Riley's dreams. The latest was her dream boyfriend singing for her at a concert.

"H-hi, Joy", stuttered Fear. Joy looked at him. "Hey, Fear, what's up?"

"I've got a question. Quite an important one, actually." Fear felt his stomach become infested with thousands of butterflies, flying around its walls as if trying desperately to escape.

"What is it?" asked Joy patiently, waiting for his reply.

"Um..."

 _C'mon, say it! Say it! There's only a few hours left before Riley wakes up._

"It's about Sadness." Fear had barely managed to make the words come out of his trembling lips.

"Ah, yes, Sadness. How is she?" Joy smiled.

"Um, well..." Fear was confronted with images of her flashing across his mind like a film projector. Her eyes, her glasses, her hair... He was really going crazy. Was that bad?

"Mm-hmm," Joy probed.

"Do you know that feeling you get when butterflies are flying around in your stomach? When your heart races when someone comes near? Joy, I feel that whenever Sadness comes over to me. I-is it dangerous? What if I'm sick?"

Joy laughed good-naturedly and put a reassuring arm around Fear. "My friend," she said, "you aren't sick. You've been hit by Cupid's arrow."

"Oh!" exclaimed Fear, "you mean I-I'm-I'm in..."

"Love," finished Joy with a grin across her face. "You're in love."

Fear couldn't help but grin too. But he soon became worried that Sadness might not reciprocate.

"B-b-but what if Sadness doesn't feel the same way?"

Joy put two arms on his shoulders this time. "Fear, the only way you'll know is by talking to her."

"Oh, a-alright," Fear said at last, after having the butterfly feeling again.

He walked away knowing that his feelings were normal, and as he walked away the butterflies started disappearing and were replaced with the feeling of floating on clouds. He was most definitely in love.


	4. I Love You

Fear wasn't entirely sure how he'd profess his love to Sadness. His main fear was not going overboard about it: succinct and yet unforgettable. Joy had given him some tips, not all of which Fear found particularly helpful. Disgust had begrudgingly given him some tips on how to present himself for the big moment. 'Smart but not dorky', she said as she went through his wardrobe. 'Ah, yes,' she remarked after pulling out a suit, 'this is perfect! Suave, sophisticated and smart. You'll pull it off with this, trust me.' She removed the garment from the coat hanger and tossed it at Fear. 'Go put them on,' she commanded. Fear obliged and, after a moment, appeared from his dressing room looking not unlike James Bond.

Joy saw him and gasped in surprise. Then, with a wink, she said, 'Go get 'em, tiger.'

Fear had chosen what he thought was the perfect spot, somewhere in Friendship Island that was surrounded by palm trees and nice, calm waves crashing softly in the distance. Fear knew Sadness loved tropical scenery through conversations she had with him. It would show her that he knew what she liked.

Eventually, the time came. When Riley had fallen asleep again, Fear took Sadness to the moonlit tropical beach on Friendship Island via the network of tubes that made up Riley's mind. 'Gosh,' Sadness gasped, 'it sure is beautiful.' Fear noted that this was just about the happiest she was feeling. 'Sure is,' he replied, 'but wait until I show you the beach.'

The beach, it turned out, was magnificent. Its sand sparkled even in the twilight, and it amazed Sadness with its opulent beauty. 'This is great. It's too bad it's at night, though. But, you know, I still really like it.'

 _Well, Fear, it's time_ , he thought.

'Sadness, I…' Fear's body tensed up. Butterflies were flying at full speed in his stomach.

'Yes?'

This was it.

'I…I…I love you.'

Sadness looked surprised. Fear wondered if she was taking it the wrong way. _Oh, now I've blown it, I've really messed it up. Well done, Fear. Now she'll never see you aga…_

He was nearly knocked to the ground by her powerful embrace. Sighing with relief, he wrapped his arms around her. 'I love you, too,' she whispered.

The moon completed its ascent into the sky and seemed to illuminate the couple in its lunar glow. Sadness pecked Fear on the cheek. Fear turned a deep scarlet but reciprocated.

In the light of the moon, two emotions were brought together.


	5. After

After Fear and Sadness had declared their love for each other, Headquarters got a little crazy. Joy wanted to know everything, Disgusted was horrified that they _kissed_ , while Anger remained fairly neutral about the whole thing. 'Good job, kiddo,' he said to Fear. 'Good job.' 'Uh, thanks, I guess,' Fear replied, having never received a compliment from Anger before.

'So, when's the wedding?' teased Joy. Sadness blushed. Fear turned a very deep shade of scarlet. In actual fact, Fear had thought about proposing, but he'd had problems finding a ring, so that had to be postponed. Not that he told anyone. Goodness knows what would have resulted from _that._

For what it was worth, though, Fear had to say he was happy. Sadness was, too, but of course she remained melancholic as she always was, but she was beginning to show her other side of caring, especially towards Fear.

One day, Fear was off-duty, exploring Headquarters as he wished. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a ring made of sapphire, apparently left from Riley's fake wedding she had with a male friend of hers back in elementary school.

Fear, intrigued, reached for the ring and saw a reflection of himself gleaming back at him. Seeing an opportunity, he put it in his pocket and resolved to put it into his cupboard inside his room.

"This could come in handy", he said only to himself.

 _ **To Be Continued...**_

 **Author's End-of-Story Note:**

 **Thanks to everyone who's reviewed my story, and everybody who favourited it, AND everybody who's followed it from its beginning to its end. I love any and all feedback I receive, as it helps me refine and improve my story, as well as simple motivation.**

 **Fear and Sadness' relationship will continue in the sequel - stay tuned, folks.**

 **-JonoGwood**


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